Window-catch.



c. ULRl-QH. WINDOW CATCH;

' APPLICATION FILED 1AN.25| 1917.

Patent-ed Oct. 9,1911

' To all whom it may concern:

CHARLES 'ULRICI-I, or no'snntn, New JERSEY.

' WINDOW-CATCH.

Be it kn'own that I, CHARLES ULRICH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Roselle, county of Union, and State of New Jersey, have inventedflcertain new and useful Improvements in NVindow-Oatches, of, which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to a window catch that locks automatically when the two members of the catch are broughttogether, the

members of the catch being preferably arranged on the meeting rails ofthe sashes in order to lock such sashes in closed-position.i.

The catch com-prisestwomembers, one of them being a keeper [having an open ng in it, the other member being a spring member with a latch to engage the keeper after passing through the-opening, in the keeper so that the latch and the keeper are in looking engagement, the latch being guided through the opening in the keeper by a guide attached to the latch, this guide alsoihaving another function, that of a finger-piece to provide ameans wherebythe parts can be unlatched preparatory to opening oneof the sashes. The parts are disposed so that the latch; and the keeper, when in locking posi- .tion, have put the spring, to which the latch compztnying drawing,-1in which Figure 1 is is attached,- under a tension-which not only assistsin locking the members against slidi-ng movement, but pull-s them toward each other and consequently against the dividing head or stripin awind'ow sash so that the sashes fare held against rattling by the wind. vThe catch isalso preferably disposed so that the two members arefastened against the opposed faces of the meeting rail of the sash so thatwhen the sashes are closed the fastening, 'means are covered and cannot be tampered with and it is furthermore impossible-tounlock this. catch by passing a knife blade or any similar thin element upbetween the, meeting rails *ol'the sashes. j

The invention .is illustrated in the aca section; through two sashes where they meet, the vmeeting rails being supplied with the members of thecatch, the keep i memberbeing shown in section at 1ts upper part.

Fig.-2,is aperspective view ofthe keeper member of the icatch, andFig 3-is,a perspectiveviewof thelatchmember.

the clauses of the claim.

Specification of Letters latenti Y P t t 4 9 7, Application filed January 26,1917. Serial nuances. i

1 n, will, be undersoood that modifications can be embodied in the structure other than the particular form shown, and theproportions and shapes ofthe parts can be altered and still embody construct The drawing illustrates an upper sash ions embraced in and alow-er sash 1 1 having the respectiye meeting rails 1'2 and 13, these sashes ,run-

ning in guide-ways'at the sideof the frame, as is usual 1n frames with slldmgsashes, and

the windowframe comprises a center bead or strip 14,, the sides o f the sashes beinglcut out to 1 receive thisstrip on each side," the sashes being adapted to be drawn toward each other and tightly against the'strip 14 by the latch'to preventrattling of either one of the sashes The lower-sash has its a forward face inclined as at 15 and the upper sash has its meeting rail with'an inclined face 16, the face 15 being cut away sufficien tlyto receive the member 17 which is the. keeper member'of the catch and ,hasits lower portion providedwith-means for attaching it' to thefrai-lf, in the form illustrated this means comprising screw-holes 18 through which the screws 19 pass, these screws being also screwed into the. meeting rail The front part of the keeper plate projectsabove the meeting rail of. the, sash and has an opening 20, across the toplof wvhich is a :bar 21," the top face of which, 22,

is preferablyslightl y inclined. v In order to ward and rear areused, forwand being away from the. person operating the sash and rearward being. toward the person make the description clear the-termsfforoperating "the sash, assuming that the parts i are mnormal relation and the sliding. sash is on the inslde. The -keeper plate 1s 1n- Iclin'ed: slightly forwardso that itstop edge projects" slightly overthe meeting rai-ljof the upper sash, i 1

which isI-fastened to theface 16 of the meetrail12, andto illustrate the fastening means I'have'show'n the screws 24.. which pass/into the meeting rail through the openings 25in' the plate23h Theplate 23 is preferablyymade of spring metal, the upper part 26" being made vslightly narrower to give it more resiliency andv being provided The latch member comprises a plate-23 i on its top end with a. latch 27'. The latch has a nose 2S and an extension 29 which forms a combined finger-piece and guide, the nose 28 and the finger-piece 29 inclining upwardly and to the rear. The latch is fastened to the top of the spring 26 in any suitable way, but in the form shown the cheek-pieces 30 are pressed down tightly against the top end of the spring so as to embrace the spring between them and thus securely press the parts together, although any desired means for fastening the parts can be used, such as rivets or screws. The parts are usually disposed on the window sashes so that when the sashes are separated the latch and its spring are relieved of tension, and in order to illustrate this I have shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 the upper sash in a lower position showing how the latch member is substantially parallel with the keeper member and the spring is without any tension, thus being relieved of strain. When, however, the sashes are slid together, the end of the guide 29 passes along'the keeper plate without obstruction, but engages the under face 31 of the bar 21, and

.the front face of the guide 29 and the nose 28 being downwardly and forwardly inclined, the latch is guided through the opening 20 and the nose 28 snaps over the top edge of the bar 21, due to the pressure of the spring 26 which is now sprung to a position away from its normal position. The tendency of the spring to assume its normal position not only looks the nose 28 down tight over the bar 21, but it presses so that its top edge pulls the keeper plate toward the upper sash and it pulls the meeting rail 12 toward the lower sash so that these sashes are tightly held against the strip .14 and the meeting rails are pulled toward each other, and if they are properly proportioned these edges meet and provide no space for the insertion of any tool calculated to be used in unlatching the members, but these members are so disposed that any manipulation of the latch to release it is extremely difficult and well nigh impossible.

The members are easily and economically manufactured, the device is simple and requires no operation to lock it, since the mere closing of the sashes to their closed positions brings the two members to relative positions where they automatically are snapped together as shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

The guide 29 acts as a finger-piece so that the latch can be pulled backward far enough to permit the nose 28 to clear the bar 21 and then either of the sashes can he slid and as soon as their movement toward an open position begins, the finger-piece can be released and the latch will pass backward out through the opening 20 and assume the normal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. i The spring is caused to enter the keeper member with a snake-like motion, the

guide on the end of the latch bearing first on the under face of the keeper and developing just enough tension on the spring to insure the spring entering the opening so that the upper face of the spring engages the under side of the keeper bar 21 which snaps over it. This easy motion of the spring does not cause enough friction to move a sash from its closed position when the other sash is being slid to its closed position, since the spring pressure is not sufficient for this, but it is amply suflicient for locking the members together and causing the engagement of the latch over the bar of the keeper.

In order to prevent breaking of the spring if it should be slightly bent out of place while the sashes are'apart and to make the contact of the members easy and gradual, the upper end of the guide of the latch is turned over and the lower edge of the keeper member is curved so. that there is no chance of the parts catching on one another on their initial engagement.

Having thus described my claim:

1. A window catch comprising a spring, a latch on the end of the spring, a finger-piece on the latch, and a keeper having an opening large enough to permit the passage of the latch and forming a bar at one end of the keeper, the tension of the spring causing the finger-piece and the spring to engage the keeper on its opposite faces at the opposite ends of the opening in the keeper, the keeper invention, ll

and the latch having means for securing them to the meeting rails of sashes.

2. A window catch comprising a spring, a latch on the end of the spring, a forwardly projecting finger-piece on the latch, the

spring normally holding the latch in rear of its locking position, a keeper inclined relative to the finger-piece and having an opening therein and having a baron the'end, the parts being disposed so that the fingerpiece guides the latch along the keeperfrom the end opposite the bar and through the opening to spring the latch over the bar, the spring and the keeper being approximately parallel to each other and to the direction of sliding movement of the sashes,

the latch and bar engaging each other to draw the latch and keeper toward each other.

3. A window catch comprising a spring and a keeper which when separated are in substantially parallel planes and approximately parallel to the direction of sliding movement of the sashes, the keeper having an opening therein, a bar on the end of the keeper, and a latch on the end of the spring,

the latch having a guide therein to direct the latch through the keeper so as to engage the keeper on the opposite side when the keeper and latch are brought together.

4. A window catch comprising a keeper with an opening near its upper end and a the opposite side when the keeper and spring loar at the top, the keeper being substantially are moved toward each other approximately parallel with the sliding movement of a sash, parallel. in a spring substantially parallel to the keeper In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I

5 and having a latch on its end to form a hereto set my hand, this 23rd day of Januguide whereby the latch is guided through ary, 1917. i the opening and engages the keeper bar on CHARLES ULRICH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

